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>> Wednesday, August 19, 2015

I didn't know about this event until I stumbled across it on a run this weekend. The Greenway (bike trail) was PACKED, even for a Saturday morning. I soon heard "HEY STEVIE!" from a passing cyclist. It was Jamey, a college buddy, fellow cyclist, and groomsman at our wedding.

A few blocks farther, the Greenway was PACKED with people in tents on either side. I saw a sign that said "Butt Stallions" on one of the tents and was intrigued. I noticed people wearing lanyards with the same card hanging from them around their necks. I had stumbled across the "Powderhorn 24."

The Powderhorn 24 is a bike race of sorts. You can do it individually, or as a team with 2-6 people. It started the night before (Friday) at 7 pm, and went for 24 hours until Saturday night (at 7 pm, duh). You have to hit 4 checkpoints in order, and have it marked off on your card. You can go any way you'd like, but here's the "suggested route" from their website:

That's about a 4.7 mile urban loop, with the north edge being the Greenway Trail.

There are "bonus stops" which earn you extra points, but I don't know anything about those. You basically do this loop as many times as you can in 24 hours, or you take turns with your teammates as 1 rider from each team is doing that loop at any given moment for 24 hours as a giant relay. HOW AWESOME IS THAT?!?

From the Powderhorn 24 website: a group pic from 2014.(Along the Greenway in the NW corner of the map above.)

As the sun was setting on the Greenway (via twitter). These tents went on for a few blocks!

I went online to see the live results as it was still underway on Saturday. The team names are the best. Here's just SOME of them that I liked. (These are copy-and-pasted from the results, so the top of this list are the fastest teams.)

Hecks AngelsPANCAKES#buttsBlisters of Mercy!Slow is Forever [sidenote: this was the first place SOLO man, covering approx. 310 miles NOT COUNTING bonus stops!]We climbed Val KilimannjaroFallopian Tools [an all women's team, duh]Small Gears Large Beersid rather be walkingChowderPornStruggle BusButt StallionsDropbars Not BombsLegion of Cunt CrushersProtect Kirsten Dunst At All CostsPowered by BaconAlpha MommyI don't own biking shorts :,(Snakes on a Bike!Probably Bill MurrayTUSHIE SQUEEZETyrann-a-sore-ass-rexesHam Sandwich12 Ounces At A Time: A MarathonMeadowbrook Senior Living Activities Board [I don't think this one's supposed to be funny…]2 + 2 = tutuAlmost no broken bones

The lead team did 78 loops, and hit 40 "bonus stops," for a score of 118. (There were 12 teams with 110 points or more, so it was close at the top!) If we call the loop exactly 4.7 miles, then the lead team biked 366 miles plus the bonus stops! That's all urban riding too! AND having to stop 4 times a lap to get your card marked! CRAZY! Jamey was doing great (as an individual) as he posted this photo early Saturday afternoon:

Pharmie and I were both intrigued. This could be fun to be a part of next year. It's like Ragnar, but for hippie cyclists. Check out more on Powderhorn24.com.

p.s. Don't ask how it ended for Jamey. He was well on his way to his goal of a double century (200 miles), when he stepped off his bike funny and had a lot of calf pain. He had to call it quits with a torn calf muscle 24 miles shy of his goal:

D'oh. I feel ya, fellow injured brother.

p.p.s. But don't think Jamey got hurt because he was stupidly biking too far. Last month, he biked across Minnesota south-to-north with his Dad over a week. I think they covered just under 500 miles in 6 days or so. It was awesome to "watch" him do that on Instagram. Head to his Instagram page and scroll down a bit until you see classic Minnesotan photos like these to see lots of photos from his week-long ride: